Hokies reign on Lady Vols

Tennessee's momentum washed away during a 56-minute rain delay at the decisive NCAA regional title game at Lee Softball Stadium on Sunday night.

Virginia Tech rallied for a 4-2 victory, eliminating the 13th-ranked Lady Vols from postseason play and ending their season at 50-16.

UT defeated the 16th-ranked Hokies, 7-1, in Sunday's opener and led 1-0 with two outs and a Virginia Tech (47-15) runner on first in the fourth inning when storms forced the teams off the field.

"I wasn't going to mention it, but you asked, so, yes, if the rain hadn't come we'd have been in a lot better position,'' said Ralph Weekly, who along with his wife, Karen, serves as the Lady Vols' co-head coach. "Megan (Rhodes) pitched a full game (Saturday) and a full game earlier today. We knew if she cooled off it would be tough to come back.''

Virginia Tech's Misty Hall was the first batter when the game resumed and she blasted a home run over the left-field wall to give the Hokies a 2-1 lead.

"It (rain delay) helped a lot,'' said Hall, who also delivered the game-winning homer in Virginia Tech's 1-0 win over Louisville on Friday night. "Then when we heard 'Enter Sandman,' (over stadium speakers) and it got our adrenaline going; my adrenaline was at its peak.''

The Metallica song is the walk-out music for the Virginia Tech football team and is also played at Hokies' home softball games.

"It's like the second fight song for Virginia Tech,'' said Hokies coach Scot Thomas, who's leading the program past regional action for the first time in school history. "It would be like hearing Rocky Top in Blacksburg.''

Virginia Tech added two more runs before the costly fourth was finished, doubling in a run off reliever Ashton Ward and closing its scoring with an RBI single off Danielle Pieroni.

Rhodes re-entered in the fifth, and the senior didn't allow another run.

The Lady Vols made it 1-0 in the first on a squeeze bunt by Tonya Callahan and picked up their final run on Erinn Webb's solo homer in the seventh, her third home run of the day.

"I didn't want the season to end,'' said Webb, a rising sophomore star. "I was playing for my seniors.''

Rhodes, SEC player of the year Callahan and Kenora Posey - all seniors - fought back tears after the game.

"She (Hall) just got a hold of the right pitch,'' said Rhodes, who stepped up to collect all four of the Lady Vols' postseason wins. "It is hard to warm up, cool down and warm up again.''

Posey said the delay affected the rest of the team as well.

"After that break, we lost our focus,'' Posey said. "But I have enjoyed my time and my teammates here, and I want to thank them.''

There were plenty of handshakes and backslaps after the Lady Vols routed Virginia Tech in the opener; it appeared UT figured out how to hit Hokies' star pitcher Angela Tincher.

Tincher (36-7) entered the regionals leading the NCAA in strikeouts and also had the second-lowest ERA in the nation.

Tincher's 28-inning scoreless streak was snapped in the first inning after she walked the bases loaded with one out and surrendered a two-RBI double to UT sophomore Tiffany Huff.

"I just didn't get in rhythm like I did yesterday,'' said Tincher, who tossed a three-hit shutout in Virginia Tech's 4-0 win over the Lady Vols on Saturday. "I felt like I fell apart in the first inning.''

Rhodes, meanwhile, pitched four scoreless innings before giving way to Ward with UT up 5-0 going into the fifth.

Ward was ineffective, surrendering a home run to Beth Walker and a walk before Rhodes was brought back to finish the game.

Tincher was long gone by then, having been pulled in the second with the Lady Vols up 3-0 and runners on first and second with one out. UT made it 4-0 in the second when senior Shannon Doepking had a bases-loaded RBI ground out off reliever Kenzie Roark.

UT made it 5-0 in the fifth on Webb's solo homer, and Webb added a two-run homer in the seventh to close the scoring.

The Hokies advance to play at Michigan in a best-of-three Super Regional with a trip to the Women's College World Series on the line.

It's the first time in four years the Lady Vols have not played in the WCWS.

"I'm proud of our kids, they won 50 games on a team that lost six starters,'' Ralph Weekly said. "They gave it everything they had. I believe Tincher is the best pitcher in the nation.''

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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